TEXT C In a family where the
roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks
are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard
to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for
equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing
boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents
and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by
cooperation rather than the "battle of the sexes. " If the
process goes too far and man’s role is regarded as less important-- and that has
happened in some cases--we are as badly off as before, only in
reverse. It is time to reassess the role of the man in the
American family. We are getting a little tired of "Momism", but we don’t want to
exchange it for a "neo-Popism". What we need, rather , is the recognition that
bringing up children involves a partnership of equals. There are signs that
psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are
becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women
should not receive all the credit--nor all the blame. We have almost given up
saying that a woman’s place is in the home. We are beginning, however, to
analyze man’s place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it;
Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.
The family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay
down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its
own problem. Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy
consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights
and equal responsibilities is pertinent not only to a healthy democracy, but
also to a healthy family. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree
A.A healthy, cooperative family is a basic ingredient of a healthy society. B.Men are basically opposed to sharing household chores. C.Division of household responsibilities is workable only in theory. D.A woman’s place is in the home--now as always.